James Marsden Says Ian McKellen Inspired His Return to Cyclops on Set of AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY

Superhero movies are action packed and typically physically strenuous to the actors bringing them to the screen, and the longer an actor stays in the role of a super hero, the more they might doubt their abilities to run, jump, and fight their way through it.

Even harder may be the plight to return to a role after a long time away, and James Marsden had that anxiety about whether or not he would be up for it in the upcoming gigantic action flick Avengers: Doomsday.

Marsden played the role of Cyclops in 2000's X-Men, when he was 26. Now 52, could he recapture the character?

In an interview with the New York Post, Marsden admitted to having reservations about returning to the character he last played in 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past. 

"I was worried that I wasn’t going to be able to do any of this physical stuff, but it all worked out great. I still fit the costume!" the actor exclaimed, adding that it was "great to see my old friends again, and to reunite with Patrick [Stewart] and Ian [McKellen] and Rebecca [Romijn]."

"For the longest time, I didn’t think it was going to happen," Marsden continued. "I just thought, 'Okay, well, that’s kind of done. They don’t want the fifty-year-old version of me.'" However, something that reassured him on set was seeing the 86-year-old McKellen "pushing his stunt double aside going, 'Let me try!'"

In terms of plans for Cyclops in Avengers: Doomsday, the actor was expectedly tight-lipped, but did say, "It’s going to be a lot of fun seeing all these worlds come together."

Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released on December 18, 2026.